Pocket fasteners and pockets



y 5, 1959 I. CORBE 2,884,979

I 1 0CKET FASTENERS AND POCKETS Filed July 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fla 2 I Flas- INVENTOR.

May 5, 1959 l. CORBE POCKET FASTENERS AND POCKETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1 957 INVENTOR. (id 24.016 017x42 F762 a, FIG: /0 I ,nit

POCKET FASTENERS AND POCKETS Israel Corhe, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Application July 15, 1957, Serial No. 671,963

7 Claims. (Cl. 150-35) The present invention relates to improvements in pockets for garments, or for pocket books, wallets, handbags, wallet change compartments, tobacco pouches, purses, receptacles for certain drugs, candies, custom jewelry, precious stones, pearls, watch parts, rare coins, medals, and the like as well as to improvements in pocket fasteners or locking means for closing said pockets.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which makes it possible to construct a simple and inexpensive self-locking pocket or receptacle closure for preventing the contents thereof from slipping through an opening, through which a pocket or the like is accessible.

Another object of the present invention is the pro- ,vision of a device of the character described which will work effectively, reliably and safely on pockets, receptacles, containers or the like irrespective of whether they have wide or small or narrow openings, and which can be constructed in various ways from different materials and can be made of various thicknesses so as to be adaptable for numerous small items, as enumerated above, made of metal or of any other suitable material.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which is ideally adapted for use in a wallet with a self-locking change compartment at one side, and a secret pocket on the reverse sideboth pockets to be fastened by one and the same locking pocket at either side, so that when either pocket is unfolded for use the pocket on the reverse side remains closed.

Yet still another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which is easy to open and which closes automatically, and

which is inconspicuous so that it does not interfere with the appearance of articles on which it is used, and which also is sturdy, durable, and well adapted for the rough usage to which devices of this type ordinarily are a subjected.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrange- Fig. 1 with garment material, to which the embodiment of the invention is attached, indicated in dash-and-dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the l1ne-3-3 of Fig. 2 showing my new and improved pocket locking means;

, 2,884,979 Patented May 5, 1959 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a wallet provided with locking means, self-locking change compartment, stamp pockets, and secret pocket;

Fig. 5 is an inside elevational view of the wallet 0 Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the lines 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of stamp pockets of the wallet of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is an edge view of the open wallet of Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a fractional sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7;

Fig; 10 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 10-10 oflpig 8;

Fig. ll is a perspective end view of a wallet having a modified locking pocket; and, L

Fig. 12 is an edge view, partially in section of the modification of Fig. 11.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views. 1

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a pocket 14, consisting of a pair of sheets 12 and 13 of pocket fabric material (Fig. 3) is shown as attached to another sheet 18 of garment fabric material. The interior of the pocket 14 is accessible through a pocket slot 19 in the sheet 18. My new and improved pocket fastener or locking device is interposed between the'slot 19 and the interior of the pocket 14, and consists primarily of a male locking member 16 and a female locking member 17. The male member 16 consists of a longitudinal strip of plastic material, or of any other suitable resilient material, which is folded back upon itself along a longitudinal folding line,- andwhich in cross-section is substantially Z-shaped. An upper edge portion of the member 16 is secured to the lower portion'o-f a strip 10 of fabric material, whose upper portion is secured to the sheet' 18 above the slot 19. The strip 10 also connects the upper edge portion of the pocket sheet 12 to the sheet 18, which may be done either directly or by means of an intermediate strip of material interposed between, and secured to,'an-upper edge portion of the sheet 12 and a lower edge portion of the sheet 10, as in the instance shown. The member 17 is made of the same or of a similar material as the member 16, and is substantially zig-zagshaped in cross-section and has a centrally located channel portion, into which a longitudinal portion of the member-'16 is extended. Once said portion of the member 16 has been inserted into said channel portion of the member 17 it tends to be frictionally retained therein, the side walls of said channel portion of the member 17 pressing upon that portion of the member 16 which has been inserted therebetween.

The pocket 14, in Figs. 2 and 3, is shown as attached to a sheet 18, which may be a portion of a garment, or of a wallet, or of any other article provided with one or more pockets, compartments, receptacles, or the like.

in Fig. l the pocket 14'is shown unattached in its simplest form, and the sheets of which the pocket 14 is made are shown as attached to each other by rows of stitches 11; if said sheets are made of plastic material they may be attached to each other also by means of plastic weldiug or heat-sealing, or they may be glued to each other, or the like. While the pocket 14 in Figs. 2 and 3 is shown closed, in Fig. 1' it is shown open and its opening is designated by the numeral 15. At the ends. of the opening 15 the locking members 16 and 17 are firmly attached toeach other, so that their end portions are permanently interlocked with each other. To insert or remove the contents from the pocket 14 between the locking members 16 and 17, the locking members are simply pushed apart with the finger tips sufficiently to 'fulfill'th'e' purpose, as shown at opening 15 in Fig. 1

,17 can be made of plastic material or the like; preferably they are made of a smooth, flexible crease-resisting, springy material, such as plastic, transparent or plain, fine or heavy, depending on the size of the opening of the receptacle and the kind of contents for which it is intended. For attaching my new and improved locking device to a garment pocket, as shown in Fig. 2, ordinary smooth and soft pocket fabric material may be used. By folding doubly folded smooth pocket material into the fold of a male member 16 and of a female member 17,

the male member 16-is inserted into the female member 17 in a zig-zag manner referred to hereinbefore, so that they are locked into each other. Strips of stiff, flexible material provided preferably with small eyelets may be inserted for support between the doubly folded material allowing suflicient material to extend beyond both edges of both strips to be attached or glued or otherwise secured to the inside or the upper ends of the pocket. The ends of both members 16 and 17 are tacked or otherwise fastened strongly to each other, to stay in a permanently locked position. Both the locking members 16 and 17 and the pocket 14 can be formed from one sheet of material, or the locking members 16 and 17 can be made separately and attached to a receptacle of a different material. The complete pocket can also be made of two sheets 12 and 13 of material as aforesaid, and each sheet may be made of a different color, suitable as a background to produce an outstanding display for the item for which it is intended; the sheets 12 and 13 also may be of a different grade, for instance, one side of the container could be transparent and the other side could be plain.

The members 16 and 17, which also can be made of a suitable contact material, may be attached to a garment portion or to a sheet section surrounding a pocket opening by means of an adhesive strip or the like. This way of attachment has been found highly satisfactory.

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 10 inclusive, the numeral 20 denotes a wallet which has a change pocket 26, consisting of an item like the one shown in Fig. 1; it also has two rows of stamp pockets 27, two bill pockets or compartments, one of which is visible and is denominated by the numeral 31, while the other is concealed,

and a locking pocket 28 for securing all the various pockets and compartments of the wallet 20 when the same is folded. The aforementioned concealed pocket (Fig. 4) is not limited to a wallet, but may be also applied to receptacle transparent or not, for items not desired to be displayed. My new and improved wallet 20 is distinguished from a standard wallet in that the standard wallet does not provide convenient and sufficient means for attaching and securing a change compartment or change pocket as shown and described. A piece 21 of leather, or plastic material or the like is the main piece of the wallet 20, and non-transparent window framing pieces 22 have some of their edge portions attached to portions of the main piece 21. A flap 23, which also is extended from the main piece 21, is made to cover a secret or concealed pocket or compartment of the wallet 20, and a transparent piece 24 is encompassed by the main piece 21. The aforementioned visible bill pocket 31 is separated from the concealed bill pocket by a separator sheet 25. The flap 23 is placed all the way down in the pocket or compartment 31 beneath the mounted piece 24, and the edges of the flap 23 are beneath the framing pieces 22, so that the same cannot be seen when the secret pocket or compartment is closed. A horizontal flap 30 (Fig. which also is attached to the main piece 21, covers the opening of the pocket or compartment 31, and a second flap is formed by the change pocket 26 which has an opening 29 provided with the aforementioned closure means according to my invention. Strips of transparent material are folded first horizontally and then vertically, like the bellows of an accordion, so as to form rows of the stamp pockets 27 as shown in Figs. 7 and 10, where it will be seen that of each transparent strip one end is attached to the main piece 21, whereas the other end is attached to the change pocket 26. Thus when the change pocket 26 is unfolded the rows of stamp pockets 27 spread wide open (Figs. 7 and 8). When the opening 29 of the change pocket 26 is closed, the male and female locking members 32 and 33 provided thereon are interlocked with each other in the manner shown in Fig. 9. These locking members are substantially the same as the members 16 and 17 of Figs. 1 to 3. In Fig. 10 the wallet 20 is shown in a position when it is folded ready to be locked into the locking pocket 28 (Figs; 4 and 6).

Referring finally to Figs. 11 and 12, there is shown a wallet which has a modified locking pocket 28 attached to a main piece of the wallet as may be seen in Fig. 11. This arrangement provides a locking pocket 28 at both sides of the wallet (Fig. 12), and has the purpose that the fragment of the flap 29 and the bill pockets are provided with separate locking pockets at either side of the wallet so that when one is unfolded for use the pocket on the reverse side still remains closed. The change pocket 26, stamp pockets 27, the flap 30, the framing pieces 22, and the window 24 of Figs. 11 and 12 are substantially the same items as the items 26, 27, 30, 22 and 24 of Figs. 4 to 10.

While my new and improved pocket locking means have been shown in connection with a garment pocket and in various applications to wallets, it will be obvious that they can be used also for closing a ladies pocket book by extending them all over the opening thereof, and they can be used further for other articles where a simple, easy to operate, inexpensive, and light-weight closure is desired.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a pocket having a mouth portion consisting of a pair of opposite longitudinal sections, a locking device comprising a first strip of resilient material secured to a first one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion and folded along three parallel longitudinal folding lines so as to form a channel having two side portions each of which consists of two portions of said strip folded upon themselves, and a second strip of resilient material folded upon itself along a longitudinal folding line and bent along two longitudinal lines to form a rib Z-shaped in cross-section and being secured to a second one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion, said first and said second strip having their ends secured to each other and tending to assume straight positions, thereby a longitudinal portion of said second strip extending into the channel member formed by said first strip and remaining in frictional engagement with the same.

2. In a pocket having a mouth portion consisting of a pair of opposite longitudinal sections, a locking device comprising a first strip of resilient material secured to a first one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion and folded along three parallel longitudinal folding gangsta lines so as to form a channel having two side portions each of which consists of two portions of said strip folded upon themselves, a sheet of material having one edge portion secured to a second one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion, and a second strip of resilient material folded upon itself along a longitudinal folding line and bent along two longitudinal lines to form a rib Z-shaped in cross-section and being secured to said sheet of material, said first and said second strip having their ends secured to each other and tending to assume straight positions, thereby a longitudinal portion of said second strip extending into the channel member formed by said first strip and remaining in frictional engagement with the same.

3. In a pocket having a mouth portion consisting, of a pair of opposite longitudinal sections, a locking device comprising a resilient female channel member secured to a first one off the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion and having side walls tending to swing toward each other and being folded along three parallel longitudinal folding lines, a sheet of material having one edge portion secured to a second one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion, and a resilient male member secured to said sheet of material and having a longitudinal portion extended into said channel member and being frictionally retained therein, said female channel member and said male member having their ends connected to each other.

4. in a wallet having pocket portions provided with openings each of which is encompassed by opposite longitudinal sections and provided with a locking device comprising a first strip of resilient material folded along three parallel longitudinal folding lines so as to form a female channel member and being secured to a first one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion, and a second strip of resilient material folded upon itself along a longitudinal folding line so as to form a longitudinal rib and being secured to a second one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion, said first and said second strip having their ends secured to each other and tending to assume straight positions, thereby a longitudinal portion of said second strip extending into the channel member formed by said first strip and remaining in fric tional engagement with the same.

5. In a wallet provided with rows of pockets and a secret invisible pocket covered with a fiap hidden in a visible pocket, each pocket being provided with an opening which is encompassed by opposite longitudinal sections and provided with a locking device comprising a first strip of resilient material secured to a first one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion and folded along three parallel longitudinal folding lines so as to form a channel having two side portions each of which consists of two portions of said strip folded upon themselves, and a second strip of resilient material folded upon itself along a longitudinal folding line and bent along two longitudinal lines to form a rib Z-shaped in cross section and being secured to a second one of the longi- 6 tudinal sections of said mouth portion, said first and said second strip having their ends secured to each other and tending to assume straight positions, thereby a longitudinal portion of said second strip extending into the channel member formed by said first strip and remaining in frictional engagement with the same.

6. In a wallet having change and stamp pockets attached at one side of the wallet and a secret, invisible pocket on the reverse side and a partitioned locking pocket to secure the pockets from either side of the wallet so that when either pocket is unfolded for use the pocket on the reverse side remains closed, each pocket being provided with an opening which is encompassed by opposite longitudinal sections and provided with a locking device comprising a first strip of resilient material secured to a first one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion and folded along three parallel longitudinal folding lines so as to form a channel having two side portions each of which consists of two portions of said strip folded upon themselves, and a second strip of resilient material folded upon itself along a longitudinal folding line and bent along two longitudinal lines to form a rib Z-shaped in cross section and being secured to a second one of the longitudinal sections of said mouth portion, said first and said second strip having their ends secured to each other and tending to assume straight positions, thereby a longitudinal portion of said second strip extending into the channel member formed by said first strip and remaining in frictional engagement with the same.

7. In a wallet having a main piece of pliable material and a row of pockets as well as a change pocket, and having one end of said row of pockets attached to said main piece and the other end thereof to said change pocket, each pocket being provided with an opening which is encompassed by opposite longitudinal sections and provided with a locking device comprising a first strip of resilient material secured to a first one of said longitudinal sections and folded along parallel longitudinal folding lines so as to form a channel having two side portions each of which consists of two portions of said strip folded upon themselves, and a second strip of resilient material folded upon itself along a longitudinal folding line and bent along two longitudinal lines to form a rib Z-shaped in cross-section and being secured to a second one of said longitudinal sections, said first and second strips having their ends secured to each other and tending to assume straight positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,439,715 Broughton Aug. 13, 1948 2,520,467 Merralls Aug. 29, 1950 2,722,960 Austad Nov. 8, 1955 2,746,502 Graell May 22, 1956 2,746,503 Knee May 22, 1956 2,823,721 Svee et al. Feb. 18, 1958 

